'My mindset is lizards at the moment': The alter ego of Kyle Chalmers

Talking points

Olympic champ Kyle Chalmers loves lizards

Reptile keeping a passion out of the pool

Kyle Chalmers has his swimming friends. He has his footy friends. And he has his lizard friends.

Athletes have cited all sorts of external pursuits for saving, reviving or reinvigorating their careers. Chalmers, surely, will be among the select few to credit herpetology for preserving his mental health.

Lizard lover: Put your hand up if you love blue tongue skinks.

The vast majority of people know the South Australian teenager as an Olympic champion. His triumph in the 100m freestyle in Rio was one for the ages, earning him an enduring place in Australian sporting history.

A whole other group of people know him as the curator of the Blue Tongues of Adelaide instagram account and the owner of 16 blue tongue skinks, which reside in his garage and are regularly treated to little excursions and photo shoots in the yard.

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Let's be clearish: his number one love outside of swimming remains AFL. But gee it's getting close. At the moment, when he's not swimming or hanging out with Crows ruckman and neighbour Sam Jacobs, he's tending to his reptilian congregation.

Or talking about them on the phone to fellow fanciers. Or meeting them in person to discuss their collection. Or perusing the reptile forums to keep an eye on the latest developments and offerings.

I've formed a lot of friends in the lizard community - it's a weird thing to say...

Kyle Chalmers

Here's a quote you don't necessarily expect to hear from an Olympic swimming champion, one who had just taken out the 100m-200m double at the Australian titles: "My mindset is lizards at the moment."

Sound a touch left of centre? To Chalmers, it's been a hobby that has helped keep him decidedly normal.

The various lizard types around the nation couldn't give a frozen dead baby rat about his split times. To them, he's just a fellow collector that happens to have an exceptional rig and regularly shaves all of his body hair.

"I've got all these mates from around Australia, I catch up with them, I'm always on the phone to them. Forums ... all of that. I'm obsessed.

"I've formed a lot of friends in the lizard community - it's a weird thing to say - it's a great community. I have friends all around Australia I'll catch up with and they know me as Adelaide Blue Tongues. That's my instagram page. That's how they know me."

The economies of blue tongue scales can be a fairly lucrative business, although Chalmers isn't in it for the money. A country boy at heart, he's always been fascinated by reptiles. Now they've become a sanctuary away from the pool.

They don't judge him and he doesn't judge them. Even the weird albino ones.

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"Some lizards sell for up to $10,000. There's a lot of money in lizards. I grew up in the country and I'll go home after training and spend three hours in the garage. Time flies.

"An albino blue tongue goes for about $1500 and they will have 20 or so live babies. They sell ridiculously quickly. It's my huge hobby and passion. It's something I love and it's really helped me I think.

"Last year at nationals I had about 30 of them. I pushed it all away, sold them all, and now I'm back into it. It's something I just love. I'm able to go to the pool and then go home and it's back to lizards."

Swimmers, in particular, need an outlet aside from the blinkered life of endless laps. Chalmers finds pleasure in the regular pursuits of a modern teen: video games, NBA basketball.

But keeping reptiles, or perhaps mingling with fellow enthusiasts who enjoy his company for reasons far divorced from elite sport, has been something of a wonder tonic for his desire to succeed as an athlete.

Blue tongues may be just the start. He likes snakes as well. And frogs.